Ritual /= ceremonial. Lots of people have rituals just for fun. The morning coffee ritual is one. Another common ritual is when athletes get ready for a game, but ritual need not be accompanied by superstition or indeed any belief whatsoever.
There are all sorts of rituals embedded in children’s play. Has anyone played “red rover”? [1] Heck, even video games and indeed computer use in general are full of rituals. The “three-finger salute” of control-alt-delete is a classic one.
I see this mistake made a lot on HN (and elsewhere). The term ritual connotes solemn religious practice but it doesn’t strictly mean that anymore. Language evolves! And in academic historical and archaeological contexts, the secular use of ritual pervades as a term of art (and may actually be a major contributor to the relaxation of the term in an etymological sense).
Edit: how could I forget?! The birthday party! Long devoid of religion (at least for most people in the west), the birthday party, complete with song and candle-blow, is one of the most storied (and dreaded) rituals of all!
There are all sorts of rituals embedded in children’s play. Has anyone played “red rover”? [1] Heck, even video games and indeed computer use in general are full of rituals. The “three-finger salute” of control-alt-delete is a classic one.
I see this mistake made a lot on HN (and elsewhere). The term ritual connotes solemn religious practice but it doesn’t strictly mean that anymore. Language evolves! And in academic historical and archaeological contexts, the secular use of ritual pervades as a term of art (and may actually be a major contributor to the relaxation of the term in an etymological sense).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rover
Edit: how could I forget?! The birthday party! Long devoid of religion (at least for most people in the west), the birthday party, complete with song and candle-blow, is one of the most storied (and dreaded) rituals of all!